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Patient choice
Policy and guidance on improving patient choice, including how, when and where patients receive treatment, and giving the public a bigger hand in shaping local care systems.
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Hospital choice (also known as Free Choice)
Now, if your GP advises you that you need to see a specialist, you can choose to go to any hospital in England, including many private and independent sector hospitals. You can choose the hospital with the best reputation or shortest waiting times, or simply the one that is most convenient for you. (You may not be given a choice in some circumstances including when you are referred to mental health or maternity services, or where speed of access is important, such as suspected stroke, heart attack or cancer).
New legally binding Directions came into force on 1 April 2009. The Directions effectively legally require PCTs to ensure that patients get the choice set out in the Free Choice guidance.
- Patient Choice Survey: February 2010 - Letter from Bob Ricketts to SHAs
- The Primary Care Trusts (Choice of Secondary Care Provider) Directions 2009
- The right to choice and information: NHS Constitution
- Implementation of the right to choice and information set out in the NHS Constitution
- More information about hospital choice (opens new window)
- More information to help you choose a hospital (opens new window)
- More information about the NHS Constitution
- Letters to providers of elective care, to PCTs and to GPs on the roll out of free choice
- Choice at referral: guidance and supporting information for 2008/9
- Choice at referral: guidance framework for 2007/8
- Choice at referral: Guidance framework for 2006/7
Choice and long term conditions
For people with long-term conditions, the offer of choice is particularly pertinent, namely:
- enabling individual users to identify their specific needs and desired outcomes and agree the support and care arrangements to meet these through the personalised care
- planning process and agreed care plans supporting and enabling individuals to self care
- choices around supported living for those with more complex or social care needs to maintain independence.
Generic choice model for long term conditions
Supporting people with long term conditions: An NHS and social care model to support local innovation and integration
The your health, your way section on www.nhs.uk, previously known as the patients' prospectus, outlines how people with a chronic or long term condition will have a choice of ‘active patient’ or ‘care at home’ options.
Coronary heart disease choice
From April 2005, CHD choice has been extended to offer all patients, requiring a coronary artery bypass graft, angioplasty or a heart valve operation, a choice of hospital at the point of referral by the cardiologist.
Choice and maternity
“Maternity Matters: choice, access and continuity of care in a safe service” was published in 2007 for commissioners, service providers and other organisations involved in the provision of maternity services. It builds on the maternity services commitment outlined in Our Health, Our Care, Our Say and is an important step towards meeting the maternity standard set out in the Children’s NSF.
Maternity Matters highlights the Government commitment to developing a high quality, safe and accessible maternity service through the introduction of a new national choice guarantee for women. This will ensure that by the end of 2009, all women will have choice around the type of care that they receive, together with improved access to services and continuity of midwifery care and support.
Choice and end of life care
The Government is committed to improving the quality of care for all people at the end of life, regardless of their condition or their location. This includes giving people more choice about the care that they receive. The first national End of Life Care Strategy (DH, 2008) sets out how these improvements in care can be delivered, and identifies a number of national actions which will support local services in implementing the Strategy. Information on how these are being taken forward can be found on the DH website and the website of the national implementation team.
End of life care was also identified as one of the eight pathways of care for which Strategic Health Authorities were required to develop local service visions as part of the NHS Next Stage Review. The end of life care visions were informed by, and informed, the development of the End of Life Care Strategy, and work programmes are now underway in each of the SHAs to implement these local visions for care at the end of life.
Choice and mental health
National consultations on choice in mental health suggest that patients have a positive perception of choice and the benefits it can offer.
Choice of GP
Choice in primary care has always existed to large degree and what we are trying to do now is ensure that patients are aware that they have the right to choose where they receive services that best fit their lives.
Cataract choice guidance
Guidance on implementing cataract choice from January 2005.
Additional links
History of patient choice
Explore the history of patient choice in the NHS since 1948:
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